


To Escape One's Pursuers

by alsidia



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26045287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alsidia/pseuds/alsidia
Summary: What if Yuto hadn’t duelled Sylvio but found another way to escape at the start of the manga?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	To Escape One's Pursuers

“I arrest you in the name of Leo Cooperation!”

Yuya watched slightly amused as his other stumbled backwards, eyes wide and a look of pure disbelief adorning his features. “ _Whoops…_ ” he said casually. “ _Your bluff failed._ ” Hearing this rather unhelpful comment shook Yuto from his confused stupor. He adopted a more confident stance, his composure returning, and declared with an air of finality, “No, you’re not and we aren’t duelling either.”

Sylvio’s eye twitched. Sora stifled a giggle from his chopper as his brown haired friend colleague stammered an incredulous response. “But…B-but _YOU_ challenged _ME!_ ”

Yuya was too busy laughing to pay attention to their red-faced adversary’s ensuing tirade. He was almost glad they had not started running way again – while not as eager to entertain as he was, Yuto, much like the missing personalities, had his own ways to wow the crowd! The XYZ-user himself was desperately fighting a smile and failing if their enemy’s increasingly indignant protests were anything to go by.

A scowling Shay jumped to the rooftop, interrupting the angered duellist. Without wasting another second, he demanded, “You may not be Yuya Sakaki but you know something about him! Who are you, anyway!?”

And thus a glaring contest of the highest calibre ensued. The dark haired duellists’ gazes locked – one’s eyes ablaze with battle lust; the other’s steely with defiance. Moment after moment, their match intensified, the latter crossing his arms in a show of unrelenting stubbornness while the former narrowed his golden eyes, brow creasing and growling until he finally exploded. “Answer the question, brat!” he yelled, shaking a fist dramatically. “Or I might have to use force!”

Apparently, winning was enough to boost Yuto’s ego as his condescending reply was, “Asking nicely works better than brutish commands.” As Shay – his hackles raised – prepared to pounce, the dueltainer could not help but wonder if his alternate personality had forgotten they were trying to escape. Although Yuya was no expert, now did not seem like the ideal time to play big brother. He may felt guilty at leaving him to clean up his mess but figured this would even the score. To his dismay (and Sora’s amusement), Yuto continued. “I’ll indulge you though. I’m a kid going shopping.” That smirk was definitely not helping matters.

“You really expect me to believe _that_?” Sylvio cut in. It was so basic! Simple! Not to mention daft! They were on a rooftop for crying out loud! Now the pest was staring expectantly at them as if he hadn’t just told the world’s most blatant fib. With all that in mind, the arrogant duellist thrust himself into impatient questioning – he could not be ignored forever!

Meanwhile, Yuto was finally beginning to realise a duel probably would have gotten Yuya ‘home’ faster. He pulled out his shopping list and discretely adding potato in a fruitless attempt to block out the noise. The tomato-head, worried though he was, had to commend his protector’s preparedness.

The situation was becoming increasingly bothersome, Yuto’s smirk having long-since faded to an ever deepening frown. He eventually cracked. With a resigned sigh, he raised a hand for attention and said, “Whether you believe me or not, we’ve already established that I’m not the one you're after.” He closed his eyes. “Knowing who I am won’t change that.”

“Listen, bub! These are _the_ President Akaba’s orders so we –”  
“– are hired kidnappers?”  
“Insult us again and I’ll sick Obsidian on you!” Said colleague growled menacingly. “You're coming with us!”  
Yuto snapped. “Forget it! I have four mouths to feed and –” Both hands were clamped over his mouth as he abruptly cut himself off; however, the damage had already been done. The three ghosts had already agreed to use the truth as a cover story should the need arise but Yuya was right there! He could not have missed Yuto’s panic.

Yuya, however, had reached the conclusion that his other was a better actor than he let on. After all, he had yet to technically lie but still gave nothing important away during this confrontation and his words could be just what they needed to escape.

Sora observed their should-be opponent. As a talented tale spinner and master of mystery (self-proclaimed, of course – if anyone else said it he wouldn’t deserve the title!), he fancied himself a pretty good lie detector. This guy was telling the truth but definitely had not meant to spill what he had. Still, something was seriously wrong with this picture.

With a lollipop in his mouth, Sora relayed his thoughts to the others after joining them below. Although the kid now wore an expression of cold indifference, the blue haired boy was confident they could finally get some answers. All they needed was the right incentive…

“How about this? You tell us why we should leave you alone and, if we’re convinced, you can go free.”

His companions gasped beside him while grey eyes narrowed in suspicion. Yuya urged his other to run away but Yuto was wary of being followed. Their shared body, as well as his mind, was growing tired so duelling was out of the question, leaving them with very little choice. He sighed once more. “I'm not the kind of idiot who’d give his kidnappers useful information –”  
“ _Yuto!_ ”  
“We’re not –!”  
“– but if that’s what it takes… I’ll talk.”

Yuya listened intently as Yuto spun his story of technical truths. Yes, it was odd for a 14 year old to go out for groceries after dark but no-one had noticed the lack of food until it was time to eat and the more local shops were already closed for the night. He didn’t quite trust the others not to find trouble and their father, who could not make a sandwich properly, had a tendency to work late. “It’s better to let Girly and Loud stay inside than out.”

The dueltainer sweat-dropped upon hearing the nicknames. Sora seemed satisfied (it had nothing to do with his own sister, totally!), however, something was still bothering Sylvio. “Why are you up here then? And what's with that tacky mask?”

“It gets cold up here,” Yuto countered, mildly offended. “And it’s safer than on the streets…” Even his younger brother raised an eyebrow at that, prompting the cloaked duellist to rush to his own defence. “It’s dark and empty down there with no-one to help if trouble starts! Running up here is supposed to make situations like this less likely to happen!” he stated pointedly. “Besides… it’s easier to find where you're going…”

A moment of silence passed between the group before the taller boys erupted into raucous laughter. Yuto felt his cheeks warm as he averted his gaze, glowering and avoiding his brother’s shock. With a cheery grin, Sora asked their superior what he made of the situation. The sweet-addict chuckled as he called out to their captive. They'd kept him long enough. 

The leading personality refused to look back as he marched away from their cackles. He had taken only three steps when Sylvio yelled, “You could at least thank us before running off!”

Tired, hungry and embarrassed, Yuto took the most logical course of action and spun around. “Thank you for reminding me of potatoes.” His voice dripped heavily with sarcasm; so much so that Sylvio, outraged and unthinking, fired his duel anchor and demanded a duel. The black-and-purple haired duellist yawned and trudged towards the other boy, a look close to exhaustion on his face. He grabbed his challenger’s wrist and proceeded to drag him towards the opposite end of the building.

Not worrying about being heard over his new captive’s spluttering, Yuto mumbled something about wasting time and annoying helpers. Behind them the laughter began anew.

**Author's Note:**

> So Yuto dragged Sylvio shopping only to skilfully lose him by using the vegetable his hair vaguely resembles (or is that just me?). Needless to say, Yuya has questions that no-one will be answering anytime soon. As for Zuzu, the Yu-boys were too tired to notice her follow them back to the hideout - hooray for the manager! Declan's palm is forever stuck to his face.


End file.
